In August 2012, SSE Chernobyl NPP has reported that cracks were discovered in the individual elements of New Ventilation Stack (NVS) structure. The NVS has not yet been commissioned and is under the responsibility of the Building Contractor. A periodic monitoring of NVS steel structure elements position is being performed.

For the purpose of identifying the causes for the cracks and making recommendations for their repair, several Ukrainian and international specialized expert organizations are currently carrying out comprehensive studies of the steel New Ventilation Stack structures at ChNPP. They have already provided some of their respective reports to the Employer, and they are being analyzed by the designer. As soon as the experts agree upon the root causes for the cracks, the designer performing the function of the Engineer-of-Record Supervisor for the construction will issue recommendations for the defects repair.

The Designer will determine the specific repair solution, upon which SSE ChNPP will issue a Technical Decision to eliminate defects and submit it to the Ukrainian Regulatory Authorities for concurrence.

Since this process not yet complete, it is premature to conclude the cause of the cracks or specify the measures for their elimination.

Today is 26 years as Shelter Object was accepted for operation. It was constructed over ChNPP Unit 4 that had been destroyed by the beyond-design-basis accident. The State Commission’s Certificate on acceptance of the preserved Chernobyl NPP Unit No.4 for maintenance was signed on November 30, 1986.

The accident, happened at the Chernobyl NPP on April 26, 1986, by its scales and consequences has become the largest and the most severe catastrophe in the history of power energy. The explosion destroyed the reactor core, protective barriers and safety systems. By development of the 4^th Unit destruction processes and by magnitude of its consequences the accident refers to the 7^th level according to the International Nuclear Events Scale (INES).

The Shelter construction was started following the State Commission’s decision of May 22, 1986, on the long-term preservation of the fourth ChNPP Unit to prevent radionuclide release into the environment and reduce radiation impact on the ChNPP industrial site.

Over a short period of time eighteen options for the future Shelter design were elaborated. The one was selected that maximally used structures of the destroyed Power Unit. 90 thousand people was directly involved into the construction activities. In total about 200 thousand people was involved into the activities on the accident consequences liquidation within the ChNPP area during 1986-1987. 400 thousand cubic meters of concrete mix and 7,000 tones of metal structures were utilized for the Shelter construction.

The Shelter Object was constructed only within 206 days. It enabled in the shortest possible time to reduce the negative impact of the destroyed Power Unit on the environment, perform activities on remediation and commissioning of ChNPP Units No.1 and No.2 on the same year.

On November 27, 2012, a meeting of top management of the Chernobyl Shelter Fund took place with participation of the officials from EBRD, SIP PMU, NOVARKA Consortium, Exclusion Zone Management Agency, and SSE ChNPP.

This day as well, EBRD jointly with SSE ChNPP organized the visit of national and international mass media representatives to ChNPP site to inform world community about progress in New Safe Confinement construction implementation.

On November 24, 2012, the east part of the Arch having 5,300 tonnes of weight was initially raised up to 22 metres on Chernobyl NPP Shelter site. Totally, such lifting will be made three times, and after the last one, the Arch structures will be in their design positions. After this, the east part will be moved towards the Shelter to the holding area, and assembling of the west part will start on released site. Fabricated parts will be put together and slid over the Shelter Object. When fully assembled the New Safe Confinement structure will have a length of 257 metres, a width of 164 metres, a height of 110 metres and a weight of 29,000 tonnes.

Read more ...

On November 27, 2012, a meeting of top management of the Chernobyl Shelter Fund took place with participation of the officials from EBRD, SIP PMU, NOVARKA Consortium, Exclusion Zone Management Agency, and SSE ChNPP.

This day as well, EBRD jointly with SSE ChNPP organized the visit of national and international mass media representatives to ChNPP site to inform world community about progress in New Safe Confinement construction implementation.

On November 24, 2012, the east part of the Arch having 5,300 tonnes of weight was initially raised up to 22 metres on Chernobyl NPP Shelter site. Totally, such lifting will be made three times, and after the last one, the Arch structures will be in their design positions. After this, the east part will be moved towards the Shelter to the holding area, and assembling of the west part will start on released site. Fabricated parts will be put together and slid over the Shelter Object. When fully assembled the New Safe Confinement structure will have a length of 257 metres, a width of 164 metres, a height of 110 metres and a weight of 29,000 tonnes.

Participants of the Chernobyl Shelter Fund top management meeting and mass media representatives visited the Arch assembling area followed by media briefing.

The Head of Exclusion Zone Management Agency Volodymyr Kholosha emphasized the importance of first lifting of the Arch: “The successful implementation of the New Safe Confinement will both significantly reduce the risk of further radiological contamination, and provide equipment and facilities to address the challenges of long term deconstruction of the Shelter Object and its inventory.” He also assured that NSC construction is planned to complete in 2015.

As Director of EBRD Nuclear Safety Department Vince Novak noted during briefing, the site visiting impressed him very much by extent and quality of the work performed. He expressed gratitude to SSE ChNPP General Director Igor Gramotkin, SIP PMU Director Laurin Dodd, the Contractor’s representative and Project (Novarka) Director Nicolas Caille , as well as Ukrainian government authorities for executed work.

“I will inform with pleasure about current progress during Assembly of Contributors meeting to be held in London soon. Total amount of contributors to Chernobyl Programme exceeds forty. We will take the given opportunity and express appreciation to the contributing countries and EBRD shareholders for such weighty contributions they made in Chernobyl problem solving. We all should make every possible effort to complete assigned tasks within established terms and allocated funds for this purpose. I would like to emphasize that I share the optimism of my colleagues, and I am sure that this project can be and will be fully completed.”

To perform the Shelter Implementation Plan, the Chernobyl Shelter Fund will allocate about €1.54 billion. About two-thirds of this amount will be the cost for New Safe Confinement. The EBRD acts as administrator of the Chernobyl Shelter Fund, which was established in December 1997 by the G-7 and other contributing countries to help Ukraine transform the existing Chernobyl sarcophagus into a safe and environmentally stable system. Since 2009 the EBRD is one of the largest contributors to the Chernobyl funds, having pledged €325 million towards implementation of the ChNPP projects.